Effective Strategies for Environmental Health Risk Communication
Citation:
Johnston, JohnM AND Matt Harwell. Effective Strategies for Environmental Health Risk Communication. Sustainability. MDPI, Basel, Switzerland, 18(1):76, (2026). https://doi.org/10.3390/su18010076
Impact/Purpose:
One desired outcome of a targeted risk communication effort is to increase the number of decisions made by communities that use sound science, technical recommendations, and reliable information resources. One strategy to achieve this objective is to communicate environmental risk information in a way that is dynamic, interactive, engaging, and real. The objectives of this article are to introduce tenets of precautionary advocacy as part of risk communication; explore three examples of best practices that underscore the application of precautionary advocacy; and conclude with several recommendations to address challenges of environmental risk communication. Three examples of best practices discussed here include the use of: 1) virtual exemplars; 2) narrative approaches; and 3) social media as tactics that can be useful for changing public beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors to adopt long-term planning goals that avoid the consequences of future risks.
Description:
Effective risk communication designed for risk management increases concern and motivates action by providing guidance and specific actions that can be taken. When exposures to environmental contaminants or stressors are ubiquitous or pollutant sources are not easily controlled, also decreasing sustainability, risk communication is focused on actions for risk reduction and avoidance. Three recommended practices (use of virtual exemplars, narrative, and social media) are discussed as tactics and platforms to inform public beliefs and behaviors and to encourage adoption of long-term planning goals that avoid the consequences of future risks. These risk communication strategies appeal broadly to lay audiences, are not limited to scientists and science-trained risk communicators, and are consistent with the US EPA’s SALT Framework, a research-based approach with recommended practices to guide risk communication. The overall strategy is to make risk communication more effective by using approaches that are dynamic, interactive, engaging, and relatable.
